This beer is based on a beverage that may have been enjoyed by the Etruscans of Ancient Italy around 800 BC. A strong ale containing an Italian heirloom grain called Cappelli Senatore, along with pomegranate juice, raisins, and hazelnut flour, together with 3 types of honey: chestnut, wildflower, and clover. Spiced with several hop flowers, Gentian root and tree resin (think Myrrh) in the kettle.

Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Pours a hazy dark amber to slightly red color with a small carbonated head. Head retention and lacing are non-existent. Can definitely smell the pomegranate. Maybe some slight raisin. Very fruity. Strong pomegranate taste with some raisin at the end. My wife says she can taste the hazelnut, but I am having trouble with it. Light bodied with high carbonation. Decent taste but not what I really expect from a beer. No hoppiness. (439 characters)

L: Pours a deep clear mahogany color with 1 finger of off-white head that falls rapidly.

S: Smells of dark fruits and cherries. Honey sweetness and alcohol.

T/F: Tart at the start... cherries and plums that is well balanced by honey and spices. Delicious flavor, nice alcoholic warmth, and a smooth finish. Carbonation is mild to moderate.

O: Great little beer and off the beaten path. I like this more than others in the style.... and more fruit/honey and less spice I think is a good thing. I'd enjoy having this again and another fine effort from Dogfish Head. (619 characters)

Begins like apple cider. Minimal head dissipates quickly. Sam Calagione's video on this brew shows a head that stays consistently in the cumulonimbus region. Maybe he added sat like they used to do on Cheers to keep the head on Norm's mug of Near Bear. In any case, the cloudy apple cider appearance becomes transluscent over time (and mind you, you do not want to drink this one quickly).

On the nose, Birra Etrusca is strong on stone fruit, specifically stewed prunes and raisins. The alcoholic punch belies it's 8.5% ABV. It drinks more like a 12%. As it ages in the glass, the deep, rich chocolate notes shimmer through.

There is something disturbingly familiar about its presence, as if I'd worn it last week as a fragrance, or my ancient long dead self drank this in front of my late husband king's funeral pyre. Mission Accomplished. (854 characters)

It's a bit spicy and a bit tart but nothing extreme in either direction. Paired very well with ham. Good to try once but not something I could see getting with any consistency. The bottle was dated about 8 months old at time of purchase. I don't believe the age was a problem or changed the flavors much, if any. (312 characters)

deep amber color, almost no head. bright raisin and sugar nose. taste is a lightly sour, dark "fruit juice" mixture, likely attributed to the pomegranate. if there were hops in this beer, it would taste like an american wild ale/sour beer. interesting to try, but probably will not be a regular. (299 characters)

Having long been a fan of Dogfish Head’s various eclectic offerings, I spotted this one on the shelf of my local package store a few weeks back. I was aware that the brewery had created a series of “Ancient Ales”, which focus on recipes several hundred years old. Perhaps the most widely recognizable variation so far created has been “Midas Touch”, which is somewhere between a wine and mead. This particular beer was created after the team traveled to Rome with molecular archaeologist Dr. Pat McGovern. Through analyzing drinking vessels found in 2,800-year-old Etruscan tombs, the variance was created, with the two main ingredients being two-row malted barley and heirloom Italian wheat. Curious to see if my inner Italian was satisfied with this brew? Read on!

Appearance – 87: I poured nearly half of the 750 mL bottle vigorously into a tulip glass, and was immediately struck by how fast the bubbles dissipated. There was no foam, or head to speak of in the slightest, almost as if one was pouring a wine instead. The coloring of the beer is a dark caramel.

Aroma – 93: After a sniff or two, the main notes that I was left with were the raisins and pomegranates. The beer (if you can even call it that) has a distinctly sweet smell that bordered on floral it was so pungent. Quite delightful to be honest with you, given that most of the recent reviews I’ve done have been with porters or stouts, where the malts and chocolate/coffee tones become rather “you’ve smelled one, you’ve smelled them all” after a while.

Body & Texture – 86: The beer sits in your mouth similar to a barleywine of sorts – very light and crisp. A layering sensation immediately hits your palate upon first sip, with sweet honey complimenting the heirloom wheat, followed by raisins then pomegranate juice. The aftertaste it leaves is pleasant – very sweet, but not overpowering. Very little “body” to the beverage and it drinks much closer to juice.

Taste – 85: When grading this beer I almost needed to separate my preconceived notions of what a beer tasted like versus what I was actually sampling. In terms of pure taste, it can almost be summed up as pomegranate juice with honey and alcohol – a slight sourness remains afterwards but it isn’t terribly noticeable. Dark fruits dominate the taste, and it leaves a distinctly Belgian taste to it – almost equivalent of a dubel. I’ve never had a “beer” like this before in my life, and doubt that I will do so again. Sweeter than I anticipated. Perhaps there is a reason that the Etruscans were wiped out!

Overall – 87.3 (Great): The label grabbed my attention from the start – ancient script writing in the style of my ancestors. Dogfish Head infuses their beer with almost anything that they can get their hands onto, and this particular offering is no different. The upside to the beverage is that it tastes almost akin to a juice or wine – very smooth and fruity with a distinct smell. However, the taste is lacking considering what I expected, and given the variations of ingredients that they added to the beer, perhaps eliminating one or two to have a more concise impression would be appreciated. Interesting to try and would certainly recommend sipping on it if available locally, but not something that I would ever come back to. (3,336 characters)

I love Dogfish Head beers because they have never been afraid to branch out and do something a bit different.I have been on a quest to taste all of their Ancient Series....HmmmI could have passed on this one. (211 characters)

A - Pours a dark amber rust and orange. Formed a finger of almost instantly dissipating lightly tan head. No lacing left behind whatsoever. S - Golden Belgian notes, banana and black pepper reign as the dominant aromas on the nose. T - Literally tastes like a golden Belgian, a dark Belgian strong ale, a dubel, tripel and a quad all mixed together with a black peppercorn beer. Lots of dark fruits, such as cherry. On the exhale you get a strong sense of black peppercorn. Really unique. O - An interesting, unique and one-of-a-kind beer. Never had anything like it before and probably won't again. More of an experience to be had rather than a beer to repeat buy and stay stocked up on. V - Low value, almost 17 dollars for a single 22oz bomber. (751 characters)

Appearance - 4.2/5Pours a deep orange, a bit of brown. A little bit clear. No head retention. Can see a moderately large amount of carbonation rising up at an average rate. Overall, looks deep and mysterious (well, at least the look combined with the knowledge of it as an 'ancient ale'...the point is it pulls off an ancient ale sort of look...whatever that is)

Smell - 4.5/5Alcohol, honey, resin, grapes, spices, other fruity smell perhaps, another prominent smell which I can't quite distinguish. Overall, there was a lot going on in this boquet, I was really surprised and happy with it.

Taste - 3.6/5Grapes, honey, somes strong spices/flavors. I have tasted spices/flavors like these before, probably in some kind of food, but don't know where/what. The spices/flavors have a distinct and strong floral/herbal/earthiness to them. Some spices that come to mind are rosemary and nutmeg, although I don't think either is in the beer. Whatever the flavors are, I could see them being in some kind of Italian food, or some kind of earthy, ethnic custine. The beer is moderately sweet, and there is a small alcohol taste. To be honest, I don't really like the flavor that much. The spices/flavors are just kind of weird, and not really something I would put on my food, much less my beer. But in the spirit of the Ancient Ale they are trying to pull off, the flavors seem to fit what I would expect from a beer from 8th century BC Italy. Not that I have any extensive knowledge of that time period, but being told that this beer was from that time/place, it seems to fit what I would expect. At the very least though, this beer if definitely interesting...that earns some points. As always, DFH pulls off another interesting Ancient Ale.

Mouthfeel - 3.5/5The beer is medium-light in body. There is a light amount of moderate carbonation. The beer is very crisp.

Overall - 4/5Overall, I am happy with this beer, though it has a slightly strange taste. But I love trying novel things, and loving getting to connect with history through DFH's Ancient Ale series. Overall this was a positive experience. (2,107 characters)

What a Fustercluck... Spices I've never tasted before and can't place. Mead/wine/cider/beer. Nutty, fruity, dusty dry, balanced bitterness from who even knows what. Tastes like A nutty Brown ale, but with some mead, un-aged wine, and dry cider to it. The mouthfeel is just the tiniest bit too syrupy for my taste. the Spices seem to just meld the nuts and fruits together over the honey base. There is supposed to be wheat in there somewhere, but good luck finding it under the rest of what's going on. The yeast would probably be interesting in something I could pick it out in, but in this is just can't tell

Dark amber in color with a short head that breaks down quickly. The aroma is mostly wheat and fruit sweetness. Wheat flaovr is strong with some honey sweetness, dark fruit sweetness, and a moderate bitterness. Lightly crisp throughout with dryness late. A slower sipping beer and one glass is enough in a session. (313 characters)

Poured a dark brownish with a fizzy head. Smells earthy and the taste matches up with it. Very carbonated. Reminds me almost of a wine. Cannot put my finger on all of the different spices. Nothing is super distinct. I like the overall taste though. Would come back to it again. (277 characters)

Appearance - Served in a snifter, the beer with amber in color with a white head crowning the glass.

Smell - Smelling the beer, I would swear I just walked into a humidor and I cannot afford these cigars.

Taste - There are a lot of things listed on the bottle, I really can't distinguish any of them. There is a Middle Eastern spiciness to this one. It makes me think a cardamom. There is also a certain smokiness that reminds me of a cigar. The beer is peppery, though not particularly fruity toward the finish.

Mouthfeel - The peppery sensation gives this one some bite. Though it is not particularly thick, I would not call it an easy drinker.

Overall - I generally do not like Dogfish Head's ancient beers, but I like this one. It does not match the description on the bottle, but I like it. (799 characters)

Draft: Poured a light amber color ale with a medium size foamy head with OK retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of hazelnut and unrefined grain is more or less interesting. Taste is also dominated by unrefined grain with some strong notes of hazelnut with some residual sugars which is probably derived of the honey that was added to this beer. Body is light with medium carbonation and with no apparent alcohol. I appreciate all the historical research that went into this beer but not sure I really enjoy the final product enough to try this one again. (556 characters)

A: The beer is a medium brown color, with a thin off-white head that fades quickly and leaves a very thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains spices, honey, caramelized malts and a touch of hops.

T: The taste starts out with a strong herbal spice flavor followed by sweetness from flavors of honey and caramel. The malt character is very mild but provides a decent balance. The after-taste is spicy and slightly sweet.

Appearance: Hazy coppery-brown. Light tan head upon pouring died back fairly quickly and left nothing behind. No lacing at all.

Smell: Yeast and lots of fruits (grape, apple).

Taste: All sorts of flavor. Honey like sweetness mixed in with lots of fruits - apples, grapes, pomegranate. There is a peppery taste right before the finish. The finish is slightly tart and sour, and again fruit-like.

Mouthfeel: Juicy, slick, light carbonation.

Overall / Drinkability: A very unique beer. I've never had a beer like this - but that's the point isn't it? If this is what the Etruscans were drinking (roughly) over 2800 years ago...then count me in for enjoying a cup from time to time. I picked up a bottle because the price was right (on sale - $5.99) and aged over a year it's still quite good. It paired very well with food (Chicken Paillard with curry gravy and red lettuce salad) and as a very fruity beer, I think it might go well with a variety of other foods as well. So for drinkability, I never got tired of the large glass I poured for myself and the alcohol is dangerously well hidden. Overall, an unique experience and worth a try. I might actually pick up a bottle again if the price is right. Not an amazing beer, but it has its charm. (1,318 characters)

The appearance was orange with some darker hues through it. The smell was full of earthy nutty notes but almost a pinot noir smell to it as well. The taste wasn't for me though with a lot of raisin and fruit flavors where I was hoping for more of the hazelnut and more heavy flavors. Still an interesting beer and it should be tried, but I don't see myself buying another. (372 characters)

DogFishHead EtRusCa This 'Ancient Ale' has had some serious research put into it! Brewer's, Dr.'s and Scientist's alike did some research and did their best to recreate an alcoholic beverage from 800 B!C!!! It's an interesting story. I encourage you to peep it on the inter webs~ Pours Amber/Copper/Orangeish in color, reminiscent of a juice~ Nose is of Pepper, Flowers and Green Onions, rather odd~Medium Body, equal parts tart and bitter~ Taste is by far the most Unique I ever had~ Right away it tastes like Patchouli! And Masa (Tamale) with over lays of Pomegranate, Raisin, Honey, Sweet/Dark Fruits, and honestly, some Flavors I just flat out can't put my thumb on (or never had.... It's pretty unique) This is a bit of a Novelty/Gimmick brew, that said its also genuinely educational~ I recommend everyone try it! Overall: 7.2 (832 characters)

Copper brown in color with vibrant carbonation and great clarity. The head vanished immediately. I smell honey and plenty of amber malt. There's a sweetness from the honey and the amber malt that is very prevalent upon tasting. There's an intense peppery earthiness from the spices. It's aggressively carbonated but has a dry,crisp finish. (339 characters)

A: The beer is relatively clear light amber in color and has a light amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high off white head that died down, leaving some wispy lacing on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.S: Light aromas of Middle Eastern spices are present in the nose along with some hints of pomegranates.T: The taste is similar to the smell but seems to be more complex and has additional notes of myrrh and slight hints of honey. The spices aren't as strong as they are in the smell, but seem to be most prominent in the finish.M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.O: I found this beer to be rather easy to drink and had a good balance among all of the different ingredients as neither of them seemed to be overpowering. This beer could pair well with food but is also interesting enough to drink on its own. (917 characters)